Raiganj Municipality: 3 board members removed, admin reshuffle in 2 other N Dinajpur civic bodies

Raiganj: In a major administrative shake-up, the State Urban Development department on Thursday removed three members of the Board of Administrators of Raiganj Municipality in North Dinajpur. The officials removed from their posts are Arindum Sarkar, Sadhan Barman and Pradip Kalyani.

Sources said the decision came abruptly, just days after the department, on November 1, had directed the existing four-member board, including its Chairperson, to continue their work. At that time, the post of vice-chairperson was withdrawn, and Arindum Sarkar, who held the position, was instructed to continue only as a board member.

Following the latest order, Sandip Biswas, the Chairperson of the Board of Administrators, will now function as the sole administrator of the municipality.

Meanwhile, similar changes have occurred in other municipalities of North Dinajpur. Acting on the directive of the state Trinamool Congress (TMC) committee, Swadesh Sarkar, Chairman of Dalkhola Municipality, has resigned from his post. Likewise, Ramniwas Saha and Iswar Rajak, the Chairman and vice-chairman of Kaliyaganj Municipality respectively, have also stepped down. Reportedly Biswajit Kundu and Jaya Barman Dev may take the charge of Chairman and vice-chairman of the board of Kaliyaganj Municipality. Sujana Das may be the new Chairperson of the board of Dalkhola Municipality.

Party sources indicated that these reshuffles come ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

The TMC leadership reportedly plans to appoint new chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in municipalities where the party faced setbacks in the last Parliamentary polls.

Commenting on the development, Kanaiyalal Agarwal, president of the North Dinajpur TMC Committee, said: “As per the directive of the Urban Development department, three members have been removed from the Raiganj Board of Administrators.

Only Sandip Biswas continues as Chairperson. In Dalkhola and Kaliyaganj, the respective chairmen and vice-chairmen have resigned following party instructions. The reason for these changes remains unclear.”